Cutting Corners

[Bomer]

I'm curious as to some of the things other people do to save a little dough. What are the more acceptable and effective ways you cut corners?

 

[Chris Jahn]

I think dealing with what you have is the foremost, if you have shitty mics, learn get the best out of them, bad preamps, same etc....domt let euiptment bog you down, some great recording have been done with minimal gear and good ears.

Also with studio building, really research materials, there are a lot of common household/home depot type things that can take the place of expensive pro stuff, its basicaly the same stuff with differnt names.

 

[Sloan]

Find a place to live for free - usually a bandmate/girfriend

Sell things you don't need on ebay - effects pedals!

eat cheap stuff

you can also not eat for a day or two so your stomach shrinks a bit
then you don't have to eat as much to feel full

also, drinking a lot of water can help ease the pain of starving for gear

call your friends and see if they have food, sometimes you can eat it.
also, go out to eat with friends and just eat rolls or whatever they don't eat.

use public toilets when your out so that you don't use up all your TP

DON'T LEAVE THE HOUSE UNLESS YOU ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO
it's boring as hell, but you'll save money

leave your cash and cards at home, if you don't have it - you can't use it!

 

[Sloan]

Also, don't buy drugs!!!
you can save a TON of money if you don't buy drugs and alcohol. you may also feel a lot better after a while too. drugs R BAD.

 

[RAMI]

What are the more acceptable and effective ways you cut corners?

The best way to cut a corner is to fold the paper in half, and then retrieve a pair of scissors. Now, carefully place the appropriate fingers into the 2 holes in the scissors' handle. At this point, you must carefully and precisely, cut the most pointy end of the paper ( hitherto known as the "corner").

At this point, it is advisable to un-hand yourself of the awkward, pointy weapon....slowly back away....leave the room...and never mention a word of this to anyone.

 

[Corndog]

Cutting corners leaves you with an octagon. An octagon means "Stop". So either "Stop" or stop cutting corners.

 

[TerraMortim]

I'm curious as to some of the things other people do to save a little dough. What are the more acceptable and effective ways you cut corners?

with a high powered electric saw... If you're looking for a bargain, just wait till the day after fathers day.

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

The best way to start cutting corners is to ask yourself why you're recording in the first place and why you think that there is such a time priority to record yourself that you're willing to do it half-assed before you can afford to do it right.

You can save yourself a boatload of money, time and grief that way.

G.

 

[Bomer]

I think dealing with what you have is the foremost, if you have shitty mics, learn get the best out of them, bad preamps, same etc....domt let euiptment bog you down, some great recording have been done with minimal gear and good ears.

Also with studio building, really research materials, there are a lot of common household/home depot type things that can take the place of expensive pro stuff, its basicaly the same stuff with differnt names.

Thanks for the response. This is what I was looking for. Specifically the second half. I would really like to know more in this area. By the way, this is all out of curiosity. I'm not actively trying to cut corners. I'm fairly happy with my recording quality on minimal gear and experience. I'm not trying to build a full blown recording studio in my apartment. What I have is more for personal use, creating music.

The best way to start cutting corners is to ask yourself why you're recording in the first place and why you think that there is such a time priority to record yourself that you're willing to do it half-assed before you can afford to do it right.

You can save yourself a boatload of money, time and grief that way.

G.

Thank you for absolutely nothing. I'd much rather get 5 more posts about cutting paper than listen to your elitist views . I think that by your standards there are a lot of people doing a lot of things wrong here and that's probably the reason more people haven't posted on this subject. You make people who are doing the best they can with what they have think that it's not even worth doing. Keep it to yourself next time.

 

[aitikin]

Thank you for absolutely nothing. I'd much rather get 5 more posts about cutting paper than listen to your elitist views . I think that by your standards there are a lot of people doing a lot of things wrong here and that's probably the reason more people haven't posted on this subject. You make people who are doing the best they can with what they have think that it's not even worth doing. Keep it to yourself next time.

Wow. I don't think he was trying to be elitist. I'm pretty sure he was just offering his advice. As someone who has done this for a while, even the straight stereo recordings I've made have gotten boatloads better over my time working on it.

This is not to say that you can't do this on your own, but if you're looking to get a professional sounding recording, it's a little better to just pay someone else the money that you would spend on gear. It'll take you less time and odds are cost you less money. This is a field where it's impractical to be in it, but you do it because you love it.

I don't know, it just seems like you're asking for advice and slapping someone for giving you the very advice you asked for.

 

[RAMI]

Thank you for absolutely nothing. I'd much rather get 5 more posts about cutting paper than listen to your elitist views .

You're an idiot.

You know...when I was 10, I thought my father was an idiot. It's really weird how much smarter he got by the time I was 25.

 

[rayc]

Cutting corners makes doilies - you know pretty perforated pieces of paper used to absorb drips etc.
Take the time to consider what you actually wanted people to give you.
Did you want a distilation of many people and many years of varied expewrience and varied degrees of success based on empirical data and personal taste?
Did you want to know the minimum gear requirements to record?
Did you want some start up tips on getting the best from the unstated & unlisted limited gear you currently have?
Take the time to search, read, reflect, experiment and learn.
You've successfully ignore and/or alienated some of the best & brightest without being able to vaguely define what you needed, wanted or were interested in.
How do you treat people you want something from?
Not like you did matey.
Take the thumb out of your rectal cavity and resume normal waste disposal. You quite obviously are in need of a prolonged series of evacuations.
Oh, & neither a borrower nor a lender be!
Look before you leap!
He who hesitates is lost!
A penny saved in a penny earned!
In for a penny in for a pound!
Apple pie!
Homily central - turn left at the turdinator!
Is your surname Kerr?
Is your given name Wayne?

 

[pipelineaudio]

Every thing sloan said

And when it comes to drugs, I cant count the number of times a band has tried to cheap out on me after they smoked a garbage bag full of pot in my studio

 

[legionserial]

Are we talking about cutting corners, or working on a budget? The 2 seem to have got confused here.

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

I think that by your standards there are a lot of people doing a lot of things wrong here

There are. The field of "home recording" is overflowing with the belief that one needs to know nothing about playing music or recording music to actually do either and do them as well as a professional, because all they need to do is LimeWire the latest software to do the work for them. And there's absolutely nothing elitist in that statement, it's a statement of fact.

So when I see a thread started *in the recording forum* with someone asking the ambiguous question of how to "cut corners", I assume it's someone actually asking how to cut corners in the recording process - not exactly rocket surgery putting 2 and 2 together there. And the answer there is, "You don't cut corners in the recording process unless you want a recording that sounds like you cut corners."

Had I known that you were looking for how to build homebrew versions of studio widgets, which would be a question that made much more sense, and would actually belong in the Studio Building forum, my reply would have been much more helpful. Like, for example, "Head on over to the Studio Building Forum on this board for a whole bunch of good information on that subject."

You got an answer to the question you asked, not the the question you actually wanted an answer for, sparky.

G.

 

[Bomer]

Well, I appreciate the response back and apologize for taking what you said the wrong way. I'm not trying to rival professional recordings. I just know that there are a lot of people who do creative things to get just a little better quality. The most obvious one I can think of is the old home made pop filter. That's the type of thing I was talking about. And apparently "cutting corners" was the wrong thing to say... I'll keep that in mind next time.

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

Well, I appreciate the response back and apologize for taking what you said the wrong way. I'm not trying to rival professional recordings. I just know that there are a lot of people who do creative things to get just a little better quality. The most obvious one I can think of is the old home made pop filter. That's the type of thing I was talking about. And apparently "cutting corners" was the wrong thing to say... I'll keep that in mind next time.

And I apologize for perhaps jumping to a wrong conclusion; sometimes that's hard to avoid around these parts.

Yeah, there's a lot of good homebrew stuff over on the Studio Building forum. Also checkout www.realtraps.com. Ethan sells some real pro-grade acoustic treatment products over there, but he also has a good selection of DIY articles for the budget-minded.

Here's one very small tip I'll offer up: next time you need to buy a new mic stand or two, get the kind that have both the threading on the top of the vertical stand, as well as a removable, adjustable-height boom attachment (as compared to a vertical stand only, or a dedicated boom stand with no threading on the vertical element.) Not only can this kind of stand double as either a boom stand or a vertical stand, but it can be used as both simultaneously. This can be both a money saver and a space saver.

For example, I use this kind of thing often on drum kits. With the addition of an inexpensive T-adapter (that allows you to mount two mics on a single thread) I can combine an X/Y or ORTF mic pair and a third mono mic all on a single mic stand.

I don't have a specific model number for you, unfortunately. I can tell you that the ones I use are from ProLine Products, and I bought them back in the 90s from Guitar Center, but there is no model number on them. I'm sure with just a little searching you could find something similar today.

The one drawback to them is that they are noticeably heavier than your average lightweight gigging stand. As such, they are more of a pain to carry around for live gigs. But for home studio work, they are a neat little advantage to have.

G.

 

[Bomer]

I'm glad we're on the same page now because that's just the type of stuff I was talking about. I'll be sure to check out the Studio Building forum and that web site as well. Thanks again for the feedback. I'd still love to hear some other ideas people have tried.

 

[pipelineaudio]

Ignore marketing drivel unless its backed by evidence. There is a hardcore machine aimed at especially the newer recordist which claims you MUST have this brand or that brand. What little media the industry still has, not only doesnt call them on their BS, they actually back them up

Here's an excellent page for evaluating whether a product actually meets your needs or is just more hype

http://www.skepticreport.com/skepticism/baloneydetectionkit.htm

Thanks to Carl Sagan

 

[Sloan]

Woah. I was way off!